[BCMA] Remembrance Week, Royal BC Museum

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Please scroll down for the full list of 15 community organizations participating this year.

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                                                                                       NEWS RELEASE








November 7, 2011



Veterans past and present honoured all week at the Royal BC Museum

VICTORIA, BC - The Royal BC Museum is presenting five days of free talks, activities and displays to honour those who have served - and those who continue to serve.

All week, Nov. 7 to 11 from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily, the RBCM in partnership with Veterans Affairs Canada will host displays by military historians, veterans' associations and community groups on the museum's main floor.

"This is the 10th year of Remembrance Week activities here at the Royal BC Museum," says CEO Pauline Rafferty. "I encourage families to experience this free opportunity to keep the memories alive."

One of the new displays this year will be by Pacific Opera Victoria. Mary's Wedding is a Canadian opera about the power of memory and innocence and a generation of Canadians caught up in the First World War. Two members of Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians), the regiment featured in the opera, will be in uniform at the display on Nov. 9 and 10.  Archivists from the University of Victoria will present a sample of their "World of Mary's Wedding" exhibit and the Memory Project online forum where people can submit their own stories.

Highlights during the week include a pair of performances by the Victoria Children's Choir on Nov. 11 at 12:30 and 1:30 p.m.  Displays include a collection of trench art made by soldiers from World War I through the War in Afghanistan, a Korean military jeep in which visitors may have their photos taken, and an invaluable opportunity to speak with veterans and honour their service.

On Remembrance Day, Nov. 11, the Royal BC Museum invites all military personnel, whether serving or retired, and their families to visit the museum galleries free of charge.

As the provincial museum and archives, the Royal BC Museum preserves and shares the stories of British Columbia - on-site, off-site and online - through its research, collections, exhibitions and educational programs.


For specific information on Remembrance activities and special participants please contact:

Janet MacDonald, Event Planner 250-387-2016 or jmacdonald at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca<mailto:jmacdonald at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca>



For more information on the latest activities, events and exhibitions at the Royal BC Museum, visit
www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca<http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/> or call 1-888-447-7977.

CONTRIBUTORS
Veterans Affairs Canada; British Columbia Aboriginal Veterans and Serving Members Association; Chinese Canadian Military Museum; Korean Veterans Association; Maritime Museum of BC; Defence Aboriginal Advisory Group; Hong Kong Veterans' Commemorative Association, Pacific Opera Victoria; Victoria Genealogical Society; Bart Armstrong; military historians and collector Paul Ferguson, family of Colin McIntosh and Stephen Lamb.

SPEAKERS
Join military historians, veterans and their families for free talks in the Newcombe Conference Hall at the Royal BC Museum:
Date

Time

Speaker

Topic

Nov. 11

2 p.m.

Military Historian Paul Ferguson

Touring the Great War in France and Flanders

Nov. 11

3 p.m.

Hong Kong Veterans' Commemorative Association

Passing the Torch: Second generation
Children of Hong Kong Veterans keep
their fathers' history alive

Nov. 11

1 to 4 p.m.

Veterans and Military Personnel

Wartime experiences


OTHER ACTIVITIES AND DISPLAYS
Veterans Week School Programs: Honouring the Past...Preserving the Future:
250 middle school students participate in 9 school programs that include:
·         Interactive military vehicle, artifacts and equipment displays
·         Learning about the history and symbolism of badges
·         Dressing in vintage uniforms for photographs taken in a WWII Navy and Korean war jeep
·         Trench art display, veterans' organizations displays, replica of the National War Memorial in Ottawa

Victoria Childrens' Choir
The Victoria Children's Choir will perform songs honouring Remembrance Day. (12:30 and 1:30 p.m. on Nov 11)

Mary's Wedding
Pacific Opera Victoria presents a display on the new Canadian opera Mary's Wedding, a love letter to the power of memory and innocence, and to a generation of Canadians who were caught in the crucible of the First World War. Two members of Lord Strathcona's Horse, the regiment featured in the opera, will be in uniform at the display on Nov. 9 and 10.  University of Victoria archivists will present a sample of their "World of Mary's Wedding" exhibit and the Memory Project online forum where people can submit their own stories. (Nov 7 - 11)

Women of War
This display, researched and produced over 15 years by the late Colin McIntosh (formerly of Saanich), includes framed biographies and photographs of 20 servicewomen - many of whom were spies or served as resistance operatives during World War II. (Nov. 7 - 11)

Veterans Affairs Canada
Replicas of the National War Memorial and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier will be on display in the glass lobby. Photo opportunities supported by VAC staff and volunteers (Nov. 7 - 11)

Trench Art
Soldiers have decorated wood, bone and metal objects for hundreds of years. Victoria resident Stephen Lamb will display his trench art collection at the museum during Remembrance week. (Nov. 7 - 11)

BC Aboriginal Veterans and Serving Members Association / Defence Aboriginal Advisory Group
Aboriginal and Métis veterans have played major roles in Canada's wartime contributions. Displays and veterans from the BC Aboriginal Veterans will be represented throughout the week. (Nov. 7 - 11).  Displays and veterans from the Defence Aboriginal Advisory Group will be on site only on Nov. 8, National Aboriginal Veterans' Day.

Maritime Museum of BC
Displays featuring the contribution of the WRENs (Womens' Royal Naval Service / Womens' Royal Canadian Naval Service). (Nov. 7-11)

Chinese Canadian Military Museum
Display on the history of Chinese Canadian Veterans during World War II. (Nov. 7-11)

Korean Veterans' Association, Unit 27
Display table with veterans in attendance and DVD footage. (Nov. 7-11)

Victoria Genealogical Society
The VGS directs families to information, with a focus this week on those that served. (Nov. 7 to 11)

Bart Armstrong "Forgotten Canadians"
More than 100 Canadians, or those with connections to Canada, earned the U.S. Medal of Honor. (Nov. 7 to 11)

Archival film footage excerpts playing in Clifford Carl Hall:
World War I
Clip #1: Canadians march to service, 1914 and 1917
Clip #2: University of British Columbia footage, 1916
Clip #3: Victoria wartime, 1915
Clip #4: Wartime Victoria, 1914
Clip #5: Victoria Fusiliers leave for overseas, ca. 1916
World War II
Clip #6: Canadian Scottish Regiment Training Camp, ca.1938-39
Clip #7: Burritt miscellany, reel 3, ca. 1942
Clip #8: Military parade, ca. 1944
Clip #9: Salvage work in Cowichan District: a day with the Guides of Queen Margaret's School, Duncan, 1942
Clip #10: Military parades and Vancouver Diamond Jubilee parade, ca/ 1940-46

- 30 -
Media contact:
Royal BC Museum Media Enquiries
250-387-3207
news at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca



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